My Voice for Theirs

I told you earlier this week that I had a post that I was mulling over.
I had read an article that made me so angry that I could have spit nails.
Which is why I needed to take a few days for my rage to get to a point where vitriol was not the only thing that was spread across my page.
A recent headline this week (and y’all know I love my headlines taking me deeper down that rabbit hole) about a comment made by the head of the Canadian Catholic Bishops in which he stated that the church is being persecuted amid the discoveries of unmarked graves in provinces at residential schools is what enraged me.
That the media is playing it up and it really is not as bad as all that.
That there has been finger pointing and it is a big thing right now.
No it has been a big thing for the Indigenous people it is that now the world is paying attention.
What has become a big thing is that y’all are being called to account.
Fingers are being pointed for the atrocities that were committed because the church and government knew better.
Sorry the church and government filled with white men who were so damn afraid of change and differences that they had to attempt to subjugate or assimilate and if that did not work than eradication was the way to go and they are the ones that knew best.
And one must beg the question how did they know that they and they alone knew what was the best thing to do?
Because the Bible said so.
There are passages upon passages that can be used to affirm this belief.
I am fairly confident that if I were to sit down and read the bible that I would be able to find a rule against just about anything.
And if I am not I will find a section that is close enough and interpret so that it in fact does state what I want it to state.
This has been happening for so long it has become ingrained to believe that those words are heavenly when if fact they are the words written by men for men on how to keep others under their thumb.
As a result of the graves and bodies being found vandalism is on the rise at catholic churches.
Arson.
An expression of rage and pain.
I understand but it is not helping.
And I ask those who have participated:
Did you feel better in the end as the last flame licked out?
I will never know the pain that is felt so strongly that it is generational.
I will never know the pain of being ripped from my family.
I will never know the fear of being abused because I am different.
I will never know what they had to live with.
But I will open my ears.
I will open my eyes.
I will open my mouth.
I will stand and not be silent until every child is found and brought to rest.
My voice is small.
My voice is loud.
My voice is my words and my emotions.
My voice to be given for those who were silenced and taken.
My voice will be theirs.
©July 4/21
Picture is my own

Author: Jay-lyn Doerksen

A single hard working mom of a soon to be teenage son. A poet and story teller I have wanted to write since I was a child. This space is where I share stories about myself and my life and the creative poetry that stirs my soul. My hope is you will pull up a chair and a cup of coffee delving into the world that I offer and you find simple enjoyment for a few moments. Welcome to The Wonderful & Wacky World of One Single Mom

8 thoughts on “My Voice for Theirs”

  1. Don’t ever say never, because it could damn sure happen to whites as well as anyone else if “someone” decides that’s the way it should be. Just try to be grateful for your blessed life, as hard as it is, and pray for those who were lost, abused, or wronged for being a different color or religion than “someone” decided they should be. We cannot change the past or erase our history (even though someone is trying, all we can do is fight for change so that it never happens again!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Our past was whitewashed we are now seeing it for what it was. And it happens to women. It happens to anyone who is nit deemed appropriate and it still happens today. Thing is I need to speak for it I do not I condone the actions that took place. And I must listen and really hear. I know about the detrimental effects of abuse on a child first hand I can only image that pain being felt and reinforced generation after generation. I am very grateful for the life I have but think a different color a different religion a different base I could have been removed from my family. And despite my maiden name being Icelandic it is also a Metis last name I would have been taken.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. Agree 100% Kim! 9-11 is the best example of that I can point to. Americans, and by proxy all of western democracy, were attacked and killed for being who they were and living their. It didn’t feel very good but we didn’t learn from it and there’s more hatred and discrimination now than there was 20 years ago. Sigh.

      Liked by 2 people

  2. This is a great post. As a Catholic, I am very conflicted right now. I know it wasn’t me who did these things but I feel guilty by assocation. You raise a great point about the Bible. If we read it literally, we know that people in biblical times weren’t white. How could they have been? They were arabic! So, how is it that white men thought their way was the right way based on what’s written in the bible? I suppose we could argue they didn’t know any better because they had never been exposed to anyone who didn’t look like them, or think like them so they acted out of fear. It doesn’t make their evil acts any less despicable but perhaps it offers insight into why it happened.

    The burning of churces in retaliation saddens me because, while it may be a symbolic attack on the perpetrators of these horrible crimes, it really is an attack on people like me who are just as sad and angry about what happened. History shows us that anger and violence only leads to more anger and violence. I agree that we must listen and learn. We can’t change what happened, no matter how much we might like to. We can only write the chapter that comes next. Let’s make it a good one.

    Liked by 2 people

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